When you get your blood tested; the technician who takes your blood is called a Phlebotomist!
Did you know that it means vein cutter!? or the fact that at one time letting out your blood was a treatment of choice!?
The science was called phlebotomy — from the Greek words phlebos, meaning “vein,” and temnein, meaning “to cut” — or bloodletting!
Nowadays of course the term phlebotomy refers to the drawing of blood for blood tests and related procedures.
Bloodletting, the practice of draining blood from a patient, has a long and complex history, spanning over 3,000 years and practiced in various cultures. Initially believed to be a way to balance the body’s “humors” and treat various ailments, it was a common medical practice for centuries but has since been discredited by modern medicine.
Greek physicians like Hippocrates and Erasistratus believed in the four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) and that imbalances caused illness. Bloodletting was one method to restore balance. A similar imbalance was also postulated and still practiced in Ayurveda!
Ayurvedic medicine is based on the idea that the world is made up of five elements — aakash (space), jala (water), prithvi (earth), teja (fire), and vayu (air).
A combination of each element results in three humors, or doshas, known as vata, kapha, and pitta. These doshas are believed to be responsible for a person’s physiological, mental, and emotional health.
In modern medicine though the factors responsible for any disease is another combination of THREE! The agent, the host and the environment! But lets us not digress for now!
Getting back to the BLOOD!
Starting from the Greeks and Romans, bloodletting spread to the Arabs, Asians, and eventually throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
The people who were entrusted on this important ‘treatment’ were the first surgeons! The barbers! Since they were skilled with blades and they often performed bloodletting procedures this lead to the association of barbers with medical practice!
Bloodletting was widely used for various ailments, from the plague and smallpox to epilepsy and gout. Not to leave out fevers, asthma, pneumonia, cancer, jaundice, seizures, the plague, and even mental illness. In some cases, bloodletting was employed before surgeries or childbirth to prevent inflammation!
By the way it was also used to address issues like excessive menstruation, nosebleeds, and even heartbreak!
Blood and heartbreak go hand in, well glove apparently!
Development was swift in such that new tools like the scarificator (a spring-loaded device with blades) and thumb lancets were developed!
Even European medicinal leech was put into commission!
The leech though now is a good treatment in transplant and plastic surgery but then that is a whole different topic!
It took the death of a president that made a downfall on its popularity! The death of George Washington, who lost a significant amount of blood through bloodletting, contributed to the growing skepticism about the practice.
There still remains a legacy though! The barber pole, with its red and white stripes representing blood and bandages, serves as a visual reminder of bloodletting’s historical connection to barbering! Barbaric you may say now though!
Whatever you say, say it with force and power like Nariman aka Suresh Gopi!
Now before the blood pressure increases take rest!
Shubh ratri!
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